Recorded live, Zwim is the follow up to Zweierlei (2006) and Zwei
(2010). In all cases, Studer-Fry is a duo of
doublebassists exploring a form of free improvisation strongly focused on raw
sounds and the use of the instrument as a sound box. Lots of percussive
effects, string scratching, a well of ideas and techniques. I don’t feel Daniel
Studer and Peter Fry are listening to each other as closely as they do on Zwei, but it’s a fine performance.

Bogan Ghost is a duo consisting of Liz Allbee (trumpet) and Anthea
Caddy (cello). A highly deconstructed take on free improviation – closely miked
disembodied sounds. Allbee reminds me a lot of Birgit Uhler. The album consists
of seven improvisations book-ended by two more exploratory pieces that are
studio constructions integrating field recordings. I prefer those two pieces to
the main body of the album.

Oren Ambarchi makes a very good partner for Richard Pinhas: on guitar
andelectronics, his treatments and interventions manage to worm their way
into the master’s thick walls of guitar loops; at the drums, his free and
savage form of playing bring a welcome dose of intensity. Tikkun is a CD+DVD package. The CD features three titles (31, 13, 26 minutes)
to which also participate Joe Talie (drums), Merzbow, Duncan Pinhas
(sequences), and Eric Borelva (drums). Some of them took part to the live
improvisation, others added their thing after the fact, and on all three tracks
Ambarchi sticks to the guitar. “Washington D.C. – T4V1” takes grand Heldon
stances early one and will remain the disc’s highlight. “San Francisco – T2V2”
is guilty of overlong bits, but not enough to get bored. The DVD features
Pinhas and Ambarchi live at Les Instants chavirés (Paris) in October 2013. This
time, Ambarchi plays guitar for the first half of the 41-minute performance,
than switches to the drum kit. The performance is basked in red, and the
produced uses way too many mirror and tiling effects, but you do manage to
study Pinhas’s playing up close. And the handshake at the end is priceless. In
fact, this piece (“Paris – Part One – TnVO”) is better than the studio track
“San Francisco – T2V2.”[Below:
Official album trailer for “Tikkun.”]

Another EP by Rough Fields, very different from his excellent High Time. This time we have a
22-minute suite in three movements consisting of nature field recordings
digitally manipulated in real time. It contains bass frequencies that made my
monitors behave erratically, and it lacks a bit of substance. Enjoyable, but
inconsequential.

This is my first contact with US singer-songwriter Ross Beach, who has
been releasing home recordings for a long time now. Ascension Parish is an album of sardonic
country folk music. Lyrics are often funny (the reasons why “Southern Women”
don’t like him), acidic (“Burn Wall Street”) or downright silly (the joys of a
laundry worker in “Laundry Lint”). Fun stuff, deeper than expected, and some of
these songs will turn into earworms if you’re not careful.